Ewa Deelman/Photo Credit: Jo Julia Ramsey
Ewa Deelman, a computer scientist at the USC Information Sciences Institute, was named an AAAS Fellow today. Deelman, a Research Professor in the Computer Science department and Research Director at ISI, was recognized for distinguished contributions to the field of computer science particularly for the design and optimization of scientific workflows in distributed and high-performance environments.
Deelman’s biggest most significant project has been the platform Pegasus which she has been working on since 2000. This platform accelerates scientific discovery by enabling scientists all over the world to make computations on massive amounts of data. The most famous collaboration to rely on Deelman’s invention was LIGO, whose creators received the Nobel prize for their detection of gravitational waves.
Deelman’s Pegasus was used by the Southern California Earthquake Center’s to generate the world’s first physics-based probabilistic seismic hazard map of Southern California. Another group of scientists is leveraging Pegasus’s computational power to collaborate to help agricultural scientists design better crops. Pegasus has also been adopted by astronomers, physicists, oceanographers, ecologists, and even leveraged by biologists to protect endangered species.
Deelman, whose papers have received over 21,000 citations, has long been a pioneer in her field. Long before the notion of “big data,” she has examined issues of data management in scientific workflows and she was one of the first researchers to explore the use of cloud computing for scientific discovery.
“Two years ago I became a Fellow of IEEE, and it was a great honor to be recognized in that fashion for my contributions to computer science. The AAAS Fellow recognizes another important facet of the work and its impact on science, which is particularly gratifying,” said Deelman.
“I have always been interested in science and how computer science can have an impact across domains. I am always happy to see the work of my group contribute to the successes of others. This award is a recognition for our part of some of these successes.”
“I am delighted to see Ewa Deeleman’s contribution to both the research and tools for creating scientific workflows acknowledged by her selection as AAAS Fellow. Her ability to put her research ideas into practice in building operational systems, such as the work that led to the Nobel prize in physics, is most impressive,” said Craig Knoblock, Interim Keston Executive Director, USC Information Sciences Institute.
The AAAS Fellows induction ceremony will take place in February 2020 in Seattle, Washington.
Published on November 26th, 2019
Last updated on May 16th, 2024
